On: It’s nearly impossible to buy an original Bob Ross painting (2021)

[JKCalhoun]

My sense is that he was known to frequent PBS viewers (I remember him from before 2010) — but the whole Chia-fro thing and "happy clouds" or whatever meme-like thing that comes to mind definitely took him to the mainstream crowd with the internet.

[tomstockmail → JKCalhoun]

I present the evidence of Family Guy episode _Fifteen Minutes of Shame_ airdate April 25, 2000 which had a Bob Ross bit. Bob Ross was part of the cultural zeitgeist long before the 2010s Internet memes. That has brought a new generation to him, but that's just bringing GenZ in line with the others.

[SoftTalker → JKCalhoun]

Agree. Few people watch PBS. The readership here is not representative.

[Brybry → SoftTalker]

I think a lot of people who were or had kids pre-internet streaming probably watched PBS, at least sometimes.

Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Reading Rainbow, Joy of Painting, Arthur, Bill Nye, Barney, Teletubbies, etc.

It's not like there were a lot of TV choices for kids if their parents couldn't afford cable (and some stations like Cartoon Network didn't even exist until 1992+, I think even Disney Channel was a premium channel like HBO).

[nothrabannosir → SoftTalker]

Like Sesame Street, Bob Ross was more famous than PBS. I didn’t even know what America was and I knew Bob Ross.

[JKCalhoun → nothrabannosir]

That's wild.

[xnyan → SoftTalker]

In the mid 90s when Bob Ross died, 95% of American preschoolers had seen Sesame Street, at the time a show not available anywhere besides PBS.